Tony M Feb 21, 2017:

@ Asker Right, what you have linked to is exactly how I was imagining it; do note that the text on your site, even though supposedly native FR does contain some curious translations; I half suspect parts of the text may have been lifted from an original EN document; note in particular the completely wrong translation of 'latching relay'!
However, there is nothing remotely like a kennel of any kind in sight (nor mentioned); I'm suspecting a source-text error, I could perfectly understand it if they meant 'those rather bulky, clumsy cases you usually get c/bs in' — but to the best of my knowledge and belief, those are NOT called 'dog houses', EVEN in EN-US!

Most c/bs tend to be mounted from the rear, and in order to push through a front panel for a neat finish, they have a reduced-size 'front', for which a rectangular hole has to be cut in the panel, and then some kind of mounting system fitted further back in the rack. So any kind of flush- (and hence presumably front-)mounted device is indeed an advantage. From this depth-behind-the-panel issue, it's hard to see how they get 'dog house', which seems to be a large, sealed metal tank suitable for outdoor use in much higher voltage systems?

philippe vandevivere (asker) Feb 21, 2017:

size not clear Tony, I do not have a picture of the c/b, only of the PDUs. Source is quite reliable, the text is a "clone" of the site http://www.raritan.com/eu/fr/products/power-distribution/int... which includes a video. These apparently small devices are claimed to equip the largest data centers in the world ?!? I am slightly out of my depth with this assignment.

Tony M Feb 21, 2017:

Curious usage Although 'dog-house' seems to be a term used in the US in connection with circuit breakers, it generally seems to refer to much larger ones than would seem to be the case in your context.
What is the source of this EN text, and how reliable is it? I half suspect that the term 'dog-house' was incorrectly chosen, and it might have meant something much more basic, such as 'casing' (aka 'housing'); the advantage of low-profile, flush-mounting c/bs is certainly that you won't have dirty great c/b casings sticking out from the front of your rack, or else have to have a special chassis construction in order to inset them. Maybe if you have any pictures it would help to understand?